This article is from page 53 of the 2008-01-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 53 JPG
THOUSANDS of music lovers will visit Sixmilebridge for the ninth an- nual Winter Music Weekend, which takes place between Friday, January 11 and Sunday, January 13.
The festival of music will feature a wide range of music including blues, classical, jazz, bluegrass, set danc- ing, morris dancing, folk and trad.
This year, one of the main attrac- tions will be the mandolin concert
on Friday night, which will feature Simon Mayor and Hilary James, at the Courthouse venue. Simon Mayor is one of the world’s foremost man- dolinists and composers and will travel from the UK for this gig.
Among the other attractions will include an appearance by the Niall Toner band, in an acoustic concert, on Saturday evening, also at the Courthouse.
The Mill Bar will play host to the Cork-based Two Time Polka on Sat-
urday night and the North Cregg Tra- ditional Group from Cork on Sunday evening. For the first time this year, the Klezmer Jewish Band will play at the festival.
The festival will be spread among seven premises in Sixmilebridge – the courthouse, church, GAA club and four pubs – while the morris dancers will perform on the streets.
Organiser Brendan Walsh said there have been phone calls from interested music lovers from all over
the country and overseas and hopes are high that last year’s attendance figure of 3,000 will be surpassed.
“We have a big contingent com- ing from Germany and from France, while the core group of people will come from locals, along with people from Ennis, south Galway and Lim- erick,” he said.
The event is supported by Failte Ireland. For more information con- tact Brendan on 0868464509 or view the website on Www.wmw.ie.